1963 Gibson Barney Kessel Custom

**vinnyv1k** · 06-05-2016, 12:43 PM

Gibson did make a few BK's with carved spruce tops but the norm was pressed spruce or maple. I know archtop.com sold a couple with carved tops so it is possible that Dick's is carved. Regardless he got a beauty. The cherry sunburst is still brilliant.

I think it would be a wise move for Gibson to make a limited run of reissue BK's and ES350's.

**silverfoxx** · 06-05-2016, 01:50 PM

Chris,
I was just thinking about Daniel's BK350
a very desirable instrument,.,, one day.!

Dutchbopper · 06-05-2016, 02:59 PM

Originally Posted by vinnyv1k

Gibson did make a few BK's with carved spruce tops but the norm was pressed spruce or maple. I know archtop.com sold a couple with carved tops so it is possible that Dick's is carved. Regardless he got a beauty. The cherry sunburst is still brilliant.

I don't think mine has a carved top and I don't really care about that. I prefer laminate guitars anyway. What is striking is how resonant my BK is. Unplugged, it has a very nice acoustic voice. It is of a much lighter build than my modern Gibsons. Man, those old woods. Those vintage 17" Gibsons laminates are something else.

Regards,

DB

**mr. beaumont** · 06-05-2016, 03:08 PM

Video sucked. Way too short

nice playing...perfect jazz tone, IMHO.

**vinnyv1k** · 06-05-2016, 04:35 PM

Dick has some serious bop chops for sure. Like me he is a big TF fan. Barney could really swing too. It is always cool to have a axe like your hero played.

**oldane** · 06-06-2016, 01:30 AM

Originally Posted by vinnyv1k

Dick has some serious bop chops for sure. Like me he is a big TF fan. Barney could really swing too. It is always cool to have a axe like your hero played.

In the end Kessel never played his signature model unless he absolutely had to in accordance with his endorsement deal. He has been quoted saying he didn't like it very much. He also had some (other) kind of dispute with Gibson (which caused him to subsequently tape over the Gibson logo on his 350) and that might have lessened his joy of playing the Kessel model. Whatever the reason for the dispute, for all I know, he never again went into endorsement deals. At one occation when he was asked about his string choice, he went to some lenghts explaining that he payed for his strings himself and that there were many excellent brands out there of which he wouldn't recommend any specific.

**Greentone** · 06-07-2016, 08:43 AM

Dutchbopper,

I am late to the party. However, I wanted to add that your Barney Kessel sounds excellent, looks great, and that your playing on Midnight Blue (one of my favorite charts) is also excellent. Keep up the super clips.